A Mother's Moment
by Without Warrant
Summary: "We will always love you, Naruto," she whispered. During the first and last peaceful moments with her newborn child, Kushina recollects on being a new mother, and the future of her child, Naruto. Oneshot. Dedication piece to Kushina.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto, nor am I making any money off of this fanfic. Purely for fan's enjoyment.

So I love Naruto's parents, and I cried when I both read in the manga and watched the episode where he met his mother. Anyways, I've been working on Soul Subjugation (my other Naruto fanfic) and I was looking up some music on YouTube and browsing some fan art, and Kushina was just… Everywhere.

She wouldn't leave me be, so I figured I figured I'd dedicate a one-shot to her, and give what I believe might have been going through her mind during the few moments she was able to have with her son.

I'm aware that the beginning of this isn't canon and that I changed what happened right after Naruto was born, but everything else is normal beyond it. I felt Kushina deserved more than once to hold her child.

_**The "cover" picture does not belong to me, but Orin at deviantart. The artist does amazing work, you should check out their stuff. It was their work who inspired me to write this oneshot.**_

Enjoy.

Devilbiter.

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_**Beloved**_

_A mother's love need not be earned. It is instinctual, unconditional, and everlasting._

* * *

"Naruto…"

Kushina breathed in an out slowly, unable to tear her eyes away from the crying child in her midwife's arms. The elderly woman had him wrapped up in a towel, cleaning him, and although her body wanted nothing more than to sleep after her exhausting delivery, Kushina's eyes remained open, fixed in the direction of her crying child. '_That's my child. My child. My Naruto._' The kunoichi felt her eyes beginning to water as if the sheer amount of love that was ebbing inside her was too much to contain, and had manifested itself into tears of happiness.

Stifling a sob of joy, Kushina scooted back along the birthing table she was on, allowing her midwife enough room to set her baby one it once he'd finished being cleaned.

"Today I am a father." Minato spoke quietly, starting towards the elderly woman holding their newborn – she turned towards the blonde male, tsking at him.

"Mother gets to see him first, even if you are the hokage!"

Kushina let loose a tired laugh. She leaned up slightly in anticipation as her baby was brought over and set right beside her.

'_Naruto.'_ Tiny fingers were curling over the mound of blankets he was secured with.

"I finally get to see you," Kushina whispered, voice hushed and shaky. Tentatively, the new mother reached out and tugged part of his clean blanket away from his face. The first thing Kushina saw was his tiny face, eyes clenched shut while he wailed and cried, obviously not at all used to being outside of his mother's safe womb. Whisker marks marred either side of Naruto's face, but instead of feeling disgraced at what most would've seen a disfigurement, Kushina only felt a rush of adoration and love.

It was amazing… How _all_ the pain she'd just felt delivering seemed to go away the split second she _saw _him.

A tightness in her chest left her breathless when her fingers brushed against Naruto's soft, damp cheeks. He continued crying, spurring her to lightly stroke his face and hair to calm him, letting her maternal instincts guide her. '_Blonde hair… At least he didn't get my red hair._' Kushina choked another laugh, tears unleashing finally, streaming down her face while she cradled his small body closer to her. As if sensing he was near his mother, Naruto's wails turned into soft cries, and then sniffles finally; Kushina cooed at him gently, reaching down to lightly press her fingertips along his tiny, clenched fingers.

She'd never felt anything like this before, not once in all of her life. She'd been anticipating and worried over what might happen after she gave birth and was actually a mother – that she wouldn't know what to do, that something would go wrong, that she wouldn't _be_ a _**good **_mother.

There was clarity, a surety that was filling her however. It seemed to push away all those ideas and insecurities like they had merely been petty fears. '_I was worried for no reason,_' Kushina thought. '_I can be a mother. I can be this child's mother, just as Minato will be his father.'_

There was nothing more natural than this. Nothing more natural than being…

"What do you want to name him Kushina?" Minato's voice was quiet, not wanting to break the glow of Kushina's first time seeing their child. He leaned down beside his wife – she'd barely noticed his presence, but wasn't at all startled or upset when he joined her in marveling at the life they'd made together. Minato reached out and lightly touched his son's cheek. His blue eyes, too, Kushina noted, were brimmed with tears and happiness.

"Naruto." She murmured softly, letting her head lie back against the pillow. Her eyes remained fixed on Naruto's sniffling face while she rested.

"Naruto?" Minato repeated, smiling softly. "That's a good name."

Kushina just nodded. Nothing, _nothing_ was more natural than being Naruto's mother. She'd never loved or cared for someone so strongly without having really known them. _Spoken to them. Touched them_. But as she lied there, lightly stroking his fingers and damp cheeks, heard his quiet sniffles and watched his blue eyes squint open, looking around curiously…

_She'd never felt a stronger bond, a stronger __**love**__ than this._

Minato leaned down and brushed his lips against his wife's damp forehead. "Just rest, Kushina. I'll take care of Naruto for n-"

There was a loud crash. The deafening sound of blade tearing through skin cut through the air like a gunshot. Minato jerked away from his immobile wife and child, darting towards the exit of the room they were in that Kushina's midwife (and her assistant) had disappeared through minutes before. When her husband disappeared from sight, Kushina felt something awful pass over her. It was as if a premonition of dread - a certainty that something terrible was about to happen - would be coming to pass. Her red brows drew together while she tried to pull Naruto closer to her protectively.

'_What's going on…?'_ Naruto let loose a hiccup.

"M-Minato..?" She cried out, glancing away from her newborn for just a split second.

Kushina was in such a state of exhaustion, so tired from her childbirth, that she barely felt _him_ the second he passed her. Minato returned to their room, obviously having heard her desperate, weak call. The redhead noticed with a start that her husband's features were transforming into one of utter shock and then anger. '_What…?_' Kushina tore her eyes away from him and back down to where Naruto had been lying a moment before.

_He was gone._

Panic swelled inside of her. Kushina jerked her head around the room and spotted him.

A masked man, whom would later be revealed as terrorist named _Tobi_, was holding her son in his arms. Naruto had started crying again, louder than last time. She could've sworn he almost sounded desperate, as if even as a newborn baby he knew that this man was dangerous. _Wasn't his father, or his mother._

"Naruto!" The cry ripped from her lips, unbidden. "Minato, save him!"

* * *

_Breathe._

_Just breathe._

_She had to stay awake for Naruto._

_For Minato._

"_Naruto…" Kushina whispered her son's name, watching him sleep underneath the thin sheets. He was blissfully indulged in his slumber, oblivious as to what was going on around him. In that moment, despite the fact that Kushina knew her village was being rampaged by the newly-released Kyuubi, and that there was a possibility that she might not see her husband again, she could only see and feel her child._

_The new mother's body was shaking from the pain of Kyuubi having been released from her body – that, coupled with the fact she'd only just given childbirth minutes prior to all of this made her feel as if she was fighting the inevitable. Kushina wouldn't let herself fall asleep though, no matter how inviting the darkness of her subconscious was at that moment. Her fingers curled alongside her newborn's tiny body, and she pulled him closer to her, not stopping until his face rested just against her own._

'_Naruto… I'm so sorry.'_

_An unwilling sob fell from her lips. She clutched her child close to her, body trembling with the restraint required to keep herself from falling apart. Kushina had to be strong, __**stronger **__than she'd ever been. She had to be, for her baby._

_Her Naruto._

"_It'll be all okay, you'll see sweetheart. Your father will make everything better, you know that?" Kushina whispered to him shakily, feeling more silent tears trickle down her cheeks. She heard an enormous boom – like cracking thunder – far away from them, and tensed. The new mother drew a blanket over both herself and Naruto, as if by doing this they'd be shielded from whatever danger and chaos was going on in their village._

"_Your father, Minato, is the hokage Naruto." She continued murmuring, even as her baby slept peacefully, occasionally sniffling against her but otherwise quiet. Kushina watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. Slowly, she rested one of her palms against the flat of his tummy. "You look so much like him. I was… I was so worried you'd get my red hair. You'll be so handsome when you grow up, and you'll make so many friends."_

"_Good friends only though, Naruto. Make sure you stay away from the overly pretty girls – they'll do nothing but break your heart. You should find someone like your mother. Like me." Kushina bit her trembling bottom lip, drawing in a shaky breath. She lightly ran her fingers along Naruto's skin, as if hoping to etch the feel of it into her memories._

'_I wonder if you'll want to become a shinobi, like your father and I.'_

_Kushina marveled at his curled toes and clenched fingers. They were so soft. So delicate._

'_I wonder… who your first crush will be.'_

'_Your first kiss. First love. Who your best friend will be…'_

_Naruto scrunched his nose and sneezed. Kushina couldn't stop from smiling and giggling softly, watching him._

'_Hopefully Minato won't want you to train under Jiraiya. That man!' She shook her head in dismay at the thought. 'Nothing but a pervert.'_

_There was another loud boom, closer this time. Kushina felt the structure they were in tremble from the sheer force of it._

_She leaned up and held herself over her child, trying to keep him as safe and secure as she could, even when she herself could barely move just to do something as simple as this._

"_More than anything though, Naruto…"Kushina's tears dripped onto Naruto's cheeks as she rested back down beside him once the explosions subsided. Her child woke up at the wetness, blinking his brilliant blue eyes up at her._

_Her breath caught. Her heart hammered._

_He looked so much like Minato._

"_I want you to be happy, Naruto. No matter what happens to your father and I, I want you to be happy before anything else."_

_Kushina felt Minato's chakra signal flare, declaring his return to their sides would be happening shortly._

"_And I want you to know Naruto, no matter what…"_

"_Kushina!" Minato had just entered the room once more. She heard him walking towards them quickly. _

_She could hear it in his voice, their fate._

_Kushina clenched her eyes shut, smiling down at her baby. "I will love you. I will always…" She choked a sob. The new mother shuddered when her husband's hand fell on her shoulder. He didn't say anything, just helped her sit up, and helped her hold Naruto in her arms for the first and last time she ever would._

"_I will always love you, Naruto." She breathed. "And so will your daddy. Remember that. O-okay?" Kushina looked down at her son, whose wide, innocent eyes were staring up at her._

"_We loved you, before we even knew you."_

_She'd always be with him, always._

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_**End.**_

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Hope you all enjoyed.

To Kushina, and all of our mothers.

Devilbiter.


End file.
